Cor Vasa 2024, 66(5):512-517 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2024.050

(Coarctation of the aorta in a newborn with mitral and aortic valve anomalies)

Mariana Perušičová, Viktor Tomek, Václav Chaloupecký, Jan Janoušek

Dětské kardiocentrum, 2. lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy a Fakultní nemocnice Motol, Praha, Česká republika

Coarctation of the aorta is one of the most common congenital heart defects with usually favourable intermediate and long-term prognosis. Coarctation of the aorta is often associated with other heart congenital defects, especially obstructive lesions of the left-sided cardiac structures. The combination of aortic coarctation with a borderline left ventricle, mitral and/or aortic valve anomalies or stenosis is associated with a higher risk of reintervention or early mortality. One-third of infants with coarctation require urgent management in the neonatal period, and most infants experience normal growth of the initially smaller left ventricle after coarctation repair without progression of mitral or aortic stenosis. The prognosis and appropriate management of these patients depend on several anatomical and hemodynamic factors that should be determined in the neonatal period. Scoring systems based on the measurement of echocardiographic parameters, which are used in neonates with significant valvar aortic stenosis and borderline left ventricular size, are not reliable in neonates with aortic coarctation. Knowledge of risk echocardiographic parameters in neonates with coarctation present before or early after correction of coarctation is important for the prediction of development of the mitral/aortic valve and the left ventricle, as well as for determining prognosis and the correct therapeutic management. The aim of this review article is to summarize the current knowledge regarding neonatal aortic coarctation. The review also focuses on associated mitral/aortic valve anomaly and smaller left ventricular size. The presented pilot results may potentially serve as a useful basis for further clinical research.

Keywords: Aortic valve, Coarctation of the aorta, Echocardiography, Left ventricle, Mitral valve, Risk factors,

Received: May 28, 2024; Revised: June 12, 2024; Accepted: June 14, 2024; Prepublished online: June 2, 2012; Published: October 25, 2024  Show citation